1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to power detectors. More specifically, the present invention provides a power detector having temperature compensation for improved measurement performance.
2. Background Art
Power detectors measure the amplitude or power of an input signal. The precision of a power detector is limited by linearity errors and process and temperature variations. The constituent components of a power detector typically exhibit a strong dependence on temperature, especially at low input power levels. Therefore, as temperature varies, the output measurement provided by a power detector can fluctuate considerably for a given constant input amplitude. This limits the range of input amplitudes that can be accurately measured to relatively high levels where the effects of temperature variation are less pronounced. Further, input signal bandwidth decreases if low power input signals require increased amplification prior to detection.
Features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure and particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that the following detailed description is exemplary and explanatory and is intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.